The Good Dinosaur Review

A bit late to the party but I went to see Disney Pixar’s ‘The Good Dinosaur’ the other weekend with my eldest daughter at a kids club cinema re-run. We were both brilliantly impressed.

I can’t go any further without lavishing huge amounts of praise on the quality of the animation on display here; it is simply stunning. The water effects are incredible, the rubble, the grass, the trees, the leaves, so realistic, such depth, such detail, such beauty. It’s almost strange to see such life-like backgrounds and then cartoonish characters parading on them but the marriage works somehow.

The story is a well crafted coming of age story that delivers tragedy, scares, laughs and tears. It’s a tale of expectation, that finds a young dinosaur separated from his family forming a friendship with a young human boy as they attempt to return to their maternal homes. The movie comes with a ‘PG’ certificate and there are indeed some intense moments at times, one moment had the little boy next to us burst into tears which transformed instantly into laughter, a wonderful skill for a movie to achieve. Then there was the hallucination scene which I was a little surprise to see but at the same time thoroughly enjoyed and bought back memories of Dumbo.

Overall we both really enjoyed the movie and walked away taking of its powerful delivery. I’m a huge fan of Pixar Animation Studios and to have two films from them in one year is a gift. Ok, this movie doesn’t stand up to the perfect ‘Inside Out’ but I will accept this pattern going forward. Wishful thinking I know but we can dream!